DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — It has stood sentry over this community since 1881-1882, but because of the structural changes made to Central Hall over the years to comply with state regulations and to fit the town’s growing needs, it cannot be included on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Town officials had hoped Central Hall, home to the municipal offices, would fit the criteria for the distinction but learned recently that the changes disqualify it. Instead, town officials have been advised to look into establishing East Main Street as a historic district. The opposite end, West Main Street, is already an established historic district.
“All hope isn’t lost in terms of listing it,” Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Jack Clukey told selectmen last week.
Christi Mitchell, architectural historian with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, feels the town should investigate the district approach.
“There’s been enough alternations to the physical building that we did not feel it would be accepted by the National Registry as a stand-alone property,” Mitchell said of Central Hall. However, since the building is located on East Main Street where a number of other historical buildings stand, it could become a historic district, she said. “We know there are some strong elements there,” she said, noting The Piscataquis Observer building and the courthouse. “We think this area has the potential to warrant further study.”
While a historic district qualifies for some grants, protection and tax credits, only properties that have a historical value are eligible, Mitchell said.
Central Hall was the first of six public buildings constructed in the former towns of Dover and Foxcroft before the two merged, according to Louis Stevens, local historian. The other buildings were the courthouse, the Pleasant Street School, the bank block, the railroad station and the opera house, he said Saturday.
The population had increased so much in the late 1880s there was no place large enough in Dover to have a town meeting, Stevens said. Residents back then decided to build a town hall large enough for meetings and to accommodate a theater since touring companies come through the community all year, he said. In addition, Foxcroft Academy used Central Hall for its basketball games and its graduations, which included Stevens’ class.
Stevens said historical accounts recall a controversy over where to build Central Hall before settling on East Main Street, and in later years whether to repair the building or replace it.
The latter issue has surfaced again. Town officials plan to move the municipal officers in the future to the former Morton Avenue School that was acquired by the town when the new SeDoMoCha Elementary School was constructed. That will leave Central Hall vacant.
Town officials have explored the idea of the hall being leased, sold or demolished since it will cost the town about $1,000 to $1,200 a year to maintain. Pastor Tom Bruce suggested that it would be an ideal place from which to operate the local food cupboard, but no decision has been made.
Stevens believes the hall will be spared once again. “This building has had more than the nine lives of a cat, it’s always been saved by the people,” he said.